


Camp Harvelle

by Kamh



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Summer Camp, Fluffy, M/M, Summer, Summer Camp, Sweet, Teen Castiel, Teen Dean Winchester
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-12
Updated: 2016-11-12
Packaged: 2018-08-30 14:17:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,956
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8536417
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kamh/pseuds/Kamh
Summary: Dean and Cas go to summer camp! Friendship and courtship ensue over several years at Camp Harvelle





	1. Thirteen

The pouring rain was doing nothing to relieve the thick fog of humidity. Sweat was rolling down Dean’s back and forehead as he lay in his bunk, bored out of his mind. What was the point of summer camp if he was going to be cooped up inside all day? He was here to swim in the lake, go canoeing and hiking and play paintball in the woods. This rain was really harshing the vibe.

Dean’s eyes scanned the letters and drawings pinned up on the wall next to his top bunk, a few letters from his mom, asking if he was having fun and recounting the happenings at home, drawings from Sammy, of the two brothers playing and the dog that Sam was desperate to have as a playmate. Sam missed his big brother and was eager to be old enough to join Dean at sleep-away camp. Dean had to admit that he really did miss his kid brother hanging around when he was away. 

So far, camp had been a blast. This was his second year so he had a few returning friends, Benny and Garth, who shared a cabin with him. They had spent the last week catching up and enjoying the great outdoors. But a huge summer storm had kept them stuck indoors both yesterday and today, keeping Dean in a slump of boredom and heat. 

Benny and Garth had made their way to the rec room in the main building, where they’d been playing board games, but Dean was sick of them after hours of Candyland the day before. His friends Charlie and Jo were hitting up the craft room, making lanyards and cootie catchers, but Dean lacked the patience and finesse for arts and crafts. So he was reduced to hanging out all day and waiting for the evening movie, praying that it was something other than The Parent Trap, which for some reason seemed to be the only movie they kept on hand. 

Just when he was contemplating the pros and cons of solitaire, someone burst into his cabin dripping wet and slammed the door shut, pressing their back against it. Dean shot up in bed, almost hitting his head on the ceiling, and met the gaze of a drenched dark-haired boy with terrified bright blue eyes. 

“What the-?” Dean began, when two jerks started pounding their fists on the cabin door.

“Come out, come out Cassie, there’s nowhere to hide!” A voice Dean recognized as a kid named Bart shouted.

“Come on Cassie, we were only trying to teach you how to swim,” joined another taunting voice, followed by snickers.

Dean quickly determined that he wanted to protect the stranger, so he jumped off his bunk and ran to the door. He looked the kid in the eye, and gave him a nod, trying to let him know he was a friend, and moved him away from the door by the shoulders. 

Dean stepped in front of the strange boy and stuck just his head out, meeting the gaze of Bart and Raphael, “What’s going on fellas?” he inquired casually.

They were all the same age, but Dean had proved to be one of the more athletic kids at camp, he was generally respected and stood several inches taller than the other thirteen-year-old boys before him. “Uh,” Raphael stammered, clearly not expecting Dean, “We were looking for a little dorky kid named Castiel, thought he ran in here.” 

“Look, man, I have no idea what you’re talking about. But I suggest you guys get lost, and find a new hobby that doesn’t include tormenting people,” he stated protectively. 

Bart threw Dean a glowering look and shrugged it off, “Whatever.” The two of them stalked back to the main house murmuring to one another.

Dean closed the door and turned to the kid leaving a substantial puddle in the middle of the room. “I’m Dean,” he smiled, walking past the kid to the bathroom. He grabbed a towel and tossed it to him. “What’s your name? Casss-?”

“Castiel,” he answered quietly, gratefully catching the towel and attempting to dry off.

“So, rough day?” Dean prompted, crossing his arms and leaning against his bunk.

“Two of my bunkmates aren’t taking well to the bad weather, they thought it would be entertaining to see what would happen if you push a weak swimmer in the lake during a storm,” he explained, exasperated but not overly upset.

“Are you serious?!” Dean exclaimed, anger flaring in his chest, “You could’ve drowned, we gotta tell Ellen!“ Ellen was Jo’s mom, and the owner of Camp Harvelle, she was tough but loving, and Dean knew she would have to know about this.

“It’s ok, Dean, I’m fine. I’m sorry for running into your cabin like this,” Cas glanced at him apologetically. “Thank you for helping me, but I’d rather not make this into a big deal,” he practically pleaded. 

“Alright,” Dean relented, riffling through his drawers and tossing Cas sweatpants and a t-shirt. “But why don’t you stay for a while? Lay low and dry off for a bit.” “I’d like that,” Castiel smiled a little.

“So,” Dean began with his back to Cas as he changed, “is this your first year at camp? I don’t remember you from last year.”

“Sort of,” Cas explained, his voice a little muffled as he put on Dean’s dry shirt, “This is the first year my parents sent me here. I used to go to Bible camp.”

“Oh.” Dean paused, “Well this camp must be loads more fun!” He laughed a little nervously, not wanting to offend Cas, but unsure of how to respond. 

“Well, no one tried to drown me at bible camp, but the food is better here,” Cas joked drily, turning to the bathroom to hang up his wet clothes.

“Why’d you switch?” Dean inquired cautiously, turning around to face Cas as he reentered the room.

“Bible camp only lasted one week, while this one is almost a month. My father is a pastor, and he travels around the country giving sermons and doing mission trips.” Cas paused slightly before revealing, “My parents were basically just looking to dump me somewhere for as long as possible.”

“I’m sorry, Cas,” Dean said quietly.

“Don’t be,” Cas looked to him with a strong but slightly melancholy smile, “I do enjoy it here, I get to do a lot of reading, and there’s much more freedom.”

“What do you like to read?” Dean asked, curiosity piqued. 

“Mostly horror stories and thrillers actually,” Cas smiled at Dean’s surprise. “I almost got kicked out of Bible camp last year when they caught me reading the Shining.”

Twenty minutes later Cas practically had Dean in stitches laughing so hard. They talked about books and movies and told each other stories, Cas almost spit out the water he was drinking when Dean told him about his little brother Sammy peeing in his pants the first time he saw a clown after watching the movie ‘It’. 

They were just starting to debate the Lord of the Rings franchise and Harry Potter when Benny and Garth returned from the rec room.

“You’ve been GARTHED!!” Garth exclaimed over the still howling storm, as they entered.

“You don’t have to say that every time you win at connect-four, brother.” Benny drawled.

“You let him school you again, Benny? Come on,” Dean joked.

“Hey, Dean! Who’s this?” Garth prompted.

“This is Castiel. Cas, this is Benny and Garth,” Dean introduced.

“Pleased to meet you,” Benny greeted politely.

“Nice to meet ya, Cas!” Garth grinned goofily.

Cas returned their greetings with a shy smile.

“We were gonna go down to the mess hall for dinner, we heard Ellen’s making lasagna,” Garth waggled his eyebrows excitedly, “You guys wanna come?”

“That sounds awesome!” Dean’s mouth was practically watering, “You in, Cas?”

“I’d love to,” Cas answered, happy to finally have people to eat with.

Benny and Garth got along with Cas just as fast as Dean, and quickly through the dinner, they found themselves offering him the extra bunk in their cabin.

“Cas, you shouldn’t have to live with those dicks! We don’t have to tell Ellen about them bugging you, we’ll just tell her you wanna move in with us,” Dean negotiated.

“I don’t want to make you guys give up your extra bed-“ Cas nervously started.

“Don’t worry about it Cas, we’d love to have you! The more the merrier!” Garth insisted, Benny nodding in agreement.

“Ok,” Cas agreed, quietly relieved he wouldn’t have to sleep alongside Bart and Raphael anymore.

They quickly became one of the closest band of friends at camp. They were always together, debating books and comics and video games, running around with all the endless energy of prepubescent boys. Garth loved discussing the environment and bee populations with Cas, and Benny and Dean were keen on becoming the kayak champions in the camp-wide race. Not to mention, Cas made an amazing addition to their paintball team, his strategy and wilderness navigation skills had them practically unbeatable. But more often than not, Dean and Cas were together, reading or laughing, having the time of their lives.

When it came to the end of the summer, it seemed much harder to say goodbye than the year before.

“We can write letters and stuff, right?” Dean inquired as he packed up his bag on the last day.

“Of course, Dean. Besides, we live less than an hour from each other,” Cas noted while diligently folding his clothes.

“That’s true, I guess it won’t be that different,” Dean nodded to himself, carelessly stuffing as many things into his duffle as possible. 

When Cas’ parents came to pick him up, they were as stiff and proper as Cas had described them. “Hello mother, father,” Cas greeted formally. 

“Castiel,” his father nodded, “are you prepared to go?”

“Wait!” Dean called from where he was ruffling his little brother’s hair nearby. He jogged over to Cas and sheepishly handed him a handmade bracelet. “Jo helped me make it, this way you won’t forget to write,” he stated, a little flushed, addressing his shoes.

Cas beamed, “Thank you, Dean.”

They hugged goodbye, eager to maintain their friendship until next summer.


	2. Eighteen

Dean’s knuckles rapped on the door of the last cabin check of the night. “Hey fellas, everything going alright in here?”

“Hey Dean!” The kids greeted him, a chorus of a few ‘good’s’ answered him, and one of his favorite campers, Ben jumped off his bunk to show Dean his ACDC t-shirt, “ACDC rules!” Ben exclaimed, “Speaking of awesome stuff, are you going on the hike tomorrow Dean?” 

“No,” Dean answered sadly, “Cas is leading the hike tomorrow, he’s much better at navigating than me.”

“Cas is pretty cool, when he helped you lead the paintball tournament? He was awesome,” Ben reflected.

“He is pretty awesome,” Dean smiled to himself. “Alright boys, this is your last check for the night, so lights out,” he stated authoritatively, unconsciously straightening his green Camp Harvelle polo. 

“Dean?” a soft voice called from the bottom bunk in the corner.

“Hey Lucas, how’s my favorite artist?” Dean spoke softly.

“Do you think you could help me send another letter home? I made some more drawings,” the ten year old asked, trying to stifle his sniffles.

“Of course I can bud,” Dean reached his arm out to pull Lucas into a hug. “I know camp can feel like a really long time to be away from home sometimes. How about I help you send your letter, and then you and me play some army men with Jo?” 

Lucas gave a little hint of a smile, “Ok.”

“Good, then I’ll see you tomorrow, keep being brave,” Dean released him from the hug, and gave the boys one last wave before turning the lights out and heading back to his own cabin.

“Bunks have all been checked, everybody’s in for the night,” he announced as he clambered into the councilors bunk he shared with Cas. “And a bunch of kids are psyched about your hike tomorrow.”

“It should be a great trip, we’re going to go over all of the indigenous plants in the area and talk about different animal tracks,” Cas explained excitedly, seemingly pleased that some of the kids were interested. “Are you sure everyone’s in bed? Even Krissy? You know she always tries to sneak out and smoke with the ‘cool kids’,” Cas asked Dean as he dropped onto his bed.

“Yes, and they’ll never fool me, I know all the tricks. Remember the midnight strip poker game I organized a few years back?” Dean smiled to himself.

“Yes, unfortunately. You know Ellen’s not paying us just hangout here all summer,” he lectured, taking his job too seriously, as always.

“I know, I know,” Dean smiled, fondly. “But if it weren’t for a little rule breaking we never would’ve had our first kiss, when we took the boat out on our own in the middle of the night.”

“I only went out on that boat in the middle of the night because I had a huge crush on you,” Cas smiled.

“Because some rules are meant to be broken,” Dean smiled, proving his point. “That’s why you didn’t get Sam in trouble when you caught him kissing Jess at the picnic benches last week.”

“He’s your brother, Dean, and he’s a smart kid. It was for love,” Cas defended.

“Speaking of love, do we finally get to have some adult time and make out now, or what?” Dean proposed. 

Cas rolled his eyes at Dean’s bluntness, “Dean, Ellen’s bound to check in on us one more time, and if she knew we were dating she’d never let us share the same cabin.”

“I dunno, Cas- she knows everything. Besides Jo has a big mouth and her and Charlie freaked when they found out.”

“That’s true, but they freaked because they walked in on us making out,” Cas conceded.

“So…” Dean smiled and patted his bed mock-seductively, making Cas laugh.

Cas made his way to Dean’s bed, entranced as always by the bright green hue of his eyes. Once Cas was comfortably snuggled up to Dean’s side, he let Dean run his fingertips along Cas’ jaw gently. Eyes glued to Cas’ lips, Dean turned his head slightly, leaning in to taste. Cas relaxed into the feel of Dean’s soft kiss, reaching for his waist to pull him closer. 

Several minutes into their tender make out session, Cas’ hair was sticking up from Dean running his hands through it, and Dean’s shirt was tossed carelessly across the room. Cas had just found the sweet spot on Dean’s neck when the door burst open.

“Hey bitches! You guys finish your bunk chec- AH!” Charlie’s hands flew to cover her eyes. “AGAIN guys?! Put a sock on the door or something, jeeze!” She exclaimed as she backed out of the room. 

Dean and Cas’ loud laughter floated out into the warm summer night where Charlie left the door open.


	3. Forty

The engine of Dean’s sleek Chevy impala purred as he navigated her through the mountains.

“I can’t wait to see her, I feel like its been forever,” Dean admitted, drumming his finger tips on the steering wheel. 

“I’m sure she completely forgot about us, Dean, she’s thirteen remember? We’re embarrassing now.” 

“But a month is so long, and just writing letters? I don’t know how my parents did this every summer.” 

“She’s in very capable hands, you know that,” Cas soothed. 

“I know, I hope my cooking tonight will compare to Ellen’s, I’m making all of her favorites,” Dean smiled. 

They pulled up to the campground and were met with the usual last day chaos. Parents and kids were everywhere, luggage being hauled into minivans and summer friends saying their goodbyes. Cas and Dean climbed out of the impala, eyes searching the crowds. 

“There’s the lake, the same as ever. Man, I miss being a kid here,” Dean reminisced. 

“You mean the lake I almost drowned in?” Cas answered grumpily. 

“The lake I taught you to swim in…” Dean waggled his eyebrows suggestively. 

Cas rolled his eyes but had trouble suppressing his smile, “Dean, we’re here to pick up our daughter, keep it PG.” 

Finally, the crowds parted and Cas spotted a little blonde in braided pigtails. “Claire!” He called, waving in her direction. 

Claire smiled and jogged up to them, letting her cool thirteen-year-old façade slip away to run into their arms and let her dads hug her. “I missed you guys!” 

“We missed you too, sweetheart,” Dean’s eye lit up at her admission. 

“Did you have fun?” Cas asked quietly, letting his nerves about her being bullied slip through. 

“It was amazing!” Claire recounted, going on and on about all of her friends and all of their adventures to Cas while Dean packed her bags in the trunk, careful not to let the Grumpy Cat Cas bought her slip out of its hiding place in her pillowcase. 

They ran into Ellen and Jo on their way to sign Claire out, and were caught into surprisingly crushing hugs from the petite women. 

“Thank you guys for another great summer,” Dean smiled, nostalgia misting his eyes. 

“Anytime darling, ya’ll are always welcome here, you know that,” her maternal warmth radiating from her smile. 

“Your girl is quite the pistol, boys,” Jo chimes in. “She definitely made you proud this summer.” 

They bid them goodbye and set off for home, and Claire was fast asleep within minutes. 

“I really am grateful for that place,” Cas stated quietly. 

“Because of all the great memories?” Dean guessed, glancing over at Cas on the passenger side. 

“Because it brought me to you,” Cas smiled. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed :)


End file.
